Passengers will now pay more to travel at Pearson Airport in Mississauga

After a summer of cancelled flights, lost luggage and long lineups at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Canada’s busiest airport is raising its prices.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which operates Pearson, recently announced it will raise both the Airport Improvement Fee (AIF) charged to passengers and the Aeronautic Rates charged to airlines.

The hikes take effect in January and are expected to help pay for increased staffing and airport renovations.

The AIF, currently at $30 for departing passengers and $6 for connecting travellers, will increase to $35 and $7, respectively, starting Jan. 1, 2023. In pre-pandemic times, passengers paid $25 and $4, respectively.

Prior to that, fees hadn’t risen in more than a decade.

By comparison, such fees at American airports are capped at $18 per round trip, per passenger.

Also, aircraft landing at Pearson will pay four per cent more come January. A typical plane arriving at the Mississauga airport pays about $4,875 now, and that will rise to just over $5,000.

The rate hikes at Pearson have drawn some criticism from airlines and other groups in the aviation and travel industry.

One point of contention is that the increases come at a time when airport and airline service, particularly at Pearson since early this year, have worsened.

The situation at Pearson Airport this past summer was often described by travellers and others as “chaotic” as flights were delayed or cancelled outright and luggage often didn’t make it to the right location.

Long lineups inside terminals and under-staffing also contributed to the overall frustration felt by travellers and others.